Monday, April 10, 2006

Beggerman

When someone approaches and says, “Excuse me, can I ask you something?” And then says, loudly, “I am not a Bum, or a derelict, or a panhandler,” you know that the next thing they are going to do is ask for money, which, by definition, makes the person at least one of the above. Yesterday a man of about 60 approached me at the Lake Forest Oasis on my way to my car. He had a pretty long story about the car braking down and him having money for the towing and his buddy – who waved at me from the driver’s seat of the car – having had the money for the repair. Now they needed money for gas. It seemed only right that I should pay my share so I gave him money but I did consider asking for a receipt because, as a charitable contribution, it is deductible.

If you are a panhandler find me. I cannot say no. I do not like giving money away, but I usually do it to get away from the situation as fast as possible.

2 comments:

Judd said...

I'm totally going to find you.

If you prefer, you can just send me a check now, for like 35 cents.

Dennis R. Plummer said...

I'm currently panhandling in NM. (Yes, I'm the bum on the side of the street typing into his laptop.) I'm sorry that yours is not one of the cars driving by.

Actually, you may have noticed from my recent posts on my blog that I am all but panhandling. I have given it serious consideration, though.